Chapter 173: Manager Qian’s Conversation

Knock knock—

“Come in… oh? Xiao Lin, you’re here pretty fast!”

Pushing open the heavy redwood door, a rich aroma of coffee rushed toward him.

Manager Qian was holding that delicate bone-china cup, his whole body sunk into the wide leather boss chair, leisurely gazing out the window at the scenery, looking to be in quite a good mood.

“Sit, don’t be shy.”

Lin Yu did as told, but the moment his butt touched the sofa, his heart skipped.

Too soft.

The sofa was excessively soft—once you sat down, your whole body seemed to sink uncontrollably, as if being swallowed by a swamp.

The feeling was relaxing, but it was hard to find any point of support, leaving one with a distinct lack of security.

Yes—no sense of security.

Just like how he felt right now.

Mm…

Lin Yu’s fingers twisted together stiffly.

His head was lowered, eyes fixed on the intricate patterns of the carpet, while the corner of his vision secretly sized up that familiar chubby boss.

“Mm-hmm~ here the mountain roads twist eighteen times~ here the water routes coil nine times~”

Manager Qian hummed an off-key tune, clearly in a good mood, as he stood up and walked over to the water dispenser.

Despite his potbelly, it had to be said—his voice was surprisingly good, deep with a hint of magnetism.

You could tell that when this fatty was young, he was probably a KTV mic tyrant.

Hot water poured into the cup, white steam slowly rising.

In this seemingly relaxed atmosphere, Lin Yu’s heart was beating a little too fast.

His brain was spinning at high speed, rehearsing his lines over and over again.

Should he tell the truth about that mysterious masked man?

This question felt far too sensitive.

So sensitive that bringing it up directly would basically be questioning the company’s legitimacy—甚至 questioning this smiling chubby man in front of him.

If he accidentally touched on some core corporate secrets…

Would a newly confirmed C-rank employee like him get “warned” or something?

Movies always went like that, didn’t they?

The protagonist touches company secrets, gets warned, and then gets dealt with…

So… should he just play dumb?

Lin Yu took a deep breath and silently recited the script he’d just made up:

“Haha… actually it wasn’t anything special.
That Qian-shaman guy couldn’t beat me, so before running away he just spat out a few threats.”

“Saying stuff like ‘just you wait,’ ‘the abyss,’ that sort of standard villain dialogue.”

Mm.

That excuse sounded reasonable enough—totally in line with the usual style of that Abyss Gospel lunatic.

As long as he acted natural, even a sharp-as-a-ghost guy like Manager Qian probably… wouldn’t see through it, right?

Probably… right?

“Slurp—”

The steaming coffee was set down on the table in front of him.

“Xiao Xiao Lin.”

That invisible pressure swept over him instantly, mixed with the bitter scent of coffee.

He looked up—

That smiling chubby face was already right in front of him.

Lin Yu was startled, his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously with a “gulp.”

To hide the awkwardness, he had no choice but to tug at the corners of his mouth and force out a smile uglier than crying.

“Haha… thanks for the coffee, Manager.”

“Hey—let me tell you, Xiao Xiao Lin.”

Manager Qian didn’t immediately hand over the coffee.

Instead, he extended his chubby finger and lightly pointed at Lin Yu in the air, his gaze playful.

“You’re not quite right today, kid.”

“Last time you came here, where’d that fearless attitude go?
You practically had your feet on my desk asking me for cigarettes.
But now the moment you walk in, you’re all timid and restrained—like some big girl who hasn’t been married off yet, all shy and shrinking, acting all girly.”

“D-do I…?”

Lin Yu’s face instantly went a shade paler.

He instinctively wanted to refute it, but found his voice weak and hollow, full of guilt.

“No? Hahaha—”

Manager Qian laughed heartily and didn’t pursue it further, plopping down into the chair opposite him.

He sprawled boldly, crossing his legs, took a sip of coffee, and his eyes—through the rising steam—grew deeper, tinged with nostalgia.

“But… it’s normal to change.”

“Stay in this company long enough—who doesn’t change?”

He patted his round, ball-like belly and let out a sigh.

“Not gonna lie, when I first joined the company, right here—”

He gestured at his waist.

“Eight-pack abs. Legit eight-pack. Solid muscle all over.
How many girls thought I was a real tough guy back then?
Heh—and then what? Blink, and over ten years pass. Time’s a butcher’s knife—it slapped layer after layer of fat right onto me!”

“And that Chen Bing—do you know her?”

Manager Qian’s topic jumped abruptly.

“I personally recruited that girl back then.
She wasn’t like the ice-cold rock she is now.
When she first walked through the company doors, ponytail, blushing at everyone she met—just like you were when you first came in. Real green.”

“Hey—speaking of which, Xiao Lin.”

Manager Qian suddenly leaned forward a bit.

In those always-squinting eyes, a sharp glint flashed.

“Do you remember? Back then, that Xiao Zhang actually wanted to kick you out.”

“After all, they’d recruited men during the magical girl phase, right?
If I hadn’t been in a rush to pee that day, gone downstairs to the bathroom, and happened to glance into the interview room…”

“…heh, maybe I really would’ve let a piece of uncut jade like you slip away.”

“Hahaha… y-yeah, yeah…”

Lin Yu laughed dryly in response, cold sweat already seeping into his palms.

He was completely confused.

What exactly was this fatty trying to do?

According to the script, shouldn’t this be the serious “confess and be lenient, resist and be punished” segment by now?

Shouldn’t he be directly asked what that mysterious masked man said?

Why was this suddenly turning into reminiscing about the glorious past?

Talking about gaining weight?

Talking about Chen Bing’s past?

Talking about the old interview days?

Every sentence sounded like casual chatter, yet every single one landed in Lin Yu’s ears with layers of subtext.

“Is he hinting that…”

“The company can lift you up, and it can also destroy you”?

Or reminding him—

“Don’t forget who gave you everything you have today”?

Lin Yu felt like his brain was about to overload.

This feeling of being led around by the nose made him even more uneasy.

Manager Qian took another sip of coffee, smacked his lips, and continued:

“Mm… although it’s true the company recruited you back then with a bit of a ‘lab rat’ mindset.”

“But if you ask me, Xiao Lin, your attitude when you first joined wasn’t exactly upright either!”

He raised a finger and shook it, sounding both angry and disappointed.

“One month! A full month of simulated combat!”

“You little bastard actually managed to die—how many times?!”

“Damn it, when I saw that death report in the backend, I almost spat blood onto the screen!”

“I was so mad I laughed, you know that?”

“An average of fifteen deaths a day—how the hell is that even human gameplay? Hahahahaha!”

“Uh… well…”

Lin Yu guiltily lifted the coffee in front of him and took a sip.

Bitter.

“A-actually back then… I was thinking it was too hard, so maybe I could get the company to fire me voluntarily and scam some severance pay…”

Lin Yu muttered softly, trying to defend his dark history.

“Heh—did you really think I couldn’t see through that little scheme of yours?”

Manager Qian shot him a sideways glance and shook his head, looking like he was staring at an ungrown child.

“Alright, alright. Those embarrassing things are in the past.”

“I’m not the type to keep grabbing onto someone’s pigtails.”

He set the coffee cup down, the smile on his face slowly fading.

The air in the office seemed to stiffen slightly with the soft clink of porcelain touching the desk.

“Bottom line, Xiao Lin.”

“You’re not that newbie who only knew how to feed kills anymore.”

Manager Qian straightened up, interlacing his fingers on the desk, his voice dropping.

“You’ve passed probation. C-rank evaluation. You’ve even obtained a personal weapon.”

“In the magical girl line of work, this is only the beginning—but it also means you’ve truly stepped into this circle and started walking in the footsteps of your seniors.”

“But precisely because of that—”

“I have to give you a warning.”

“This step that looks the simplest and most natural…”

“…is often the most dangerous one.”

“Once, countless magical girls just like you—gifted and full of promise—stood exactly where you’re standing now.”

“Most of them were brimming with potential, believing that once they had power, they could control their fate…”

“But many of them didn’t keep walking forward like in fairy tales.”

Manager Qian’s voice dropped even lower, each word like a shard of cold wind.

“They… took another road.”

“A road with no return…”

At that moment, Manager Qian leaned forward slightly, his gaze piercing across the desk, locking firmly onto Lin Yu’s increasingly panicked eyes.

“The road called [Witch].”

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